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The Key of Astrea
The first book in the Jenny Tripper series. Jenny Tripper might be crazy...or she might have the power to save the Solar System. At least that’s what the holographic woman in her bedroom tells her. Jenny thinks it's just another ghost, but after falling into an alternate Universe, she finds herself neck-deep in an interstellar conflict over runaway aliens. She alone may be the key to their freedom...if she can master her abilities without going insane. Jenny quickly learns that she’s not alone. There are others like her with mysterious powers. Now, she must compete against them for the right to wield a key that will unlock an intergalactic gateway. But, when a starship arrives to capture the runaway aliens, Jenny must work alongside her competitors to keep them out of military control. This coming-of-age story about a girl who develops psychic powers, fights giants, and takes part in spaceship battles will appeal to readers of science fiction and fantasy–and anyone who loves an adventure. Synopsis *********** SPOILERS *********** A squad of marines tracks fugitive aliens to a space station. They attack a rebel cell, and their leader, Admiral Victus, possesses one of the rebels and tricks a ship mechanic named Jack into following the fugitive aliens to the Sol system. Jenny Tripper is a teenage girl with a knack for telling fortunes. She lives with a literal ghost, and her mother has cancer, a curse of their family. While she cares for her mother, Jenny dreams of one day leaving her New Zealand home and seeing the world. When Jenny opens a strange puzzle, she activates a message from a mega-corporation that is testing gifted individuals for recruitment into a secret mission. But, before she can solve the challenging puzzle, her mother dies. After her mother’s funeral, Jenny solves the puzzle, and it transforms into a large box with a ladder inside. She climbs down the ladder and finds herself in a forest. Jenny gets lost, but her silent ghost leads her to a site of ancient ruins where Jenny finds a strange key, and her ghost disappears. Shortly after, Jenny is found by a representative of the mega-corporation who tells her to hide the key. Jenny is then onboarded into the program where she meets other recruits, and a recent hire named Jack. She also learns the details of the secret mission. The mega-corporation seeks to unlock an intergalactic gateway, and the recruits must compete for a key that will make them masters of the gateway. She now understands why she must keep her key a secret. Meanwhile, Jack informs Victus that he has located the fugitive aliens. Jenny struggles in the competition until one of the aliens teaches her how to use her power. The next day, she gets the highest score in the competition and wins the right to unlock the gateway. Her victory is short-lived however because Victus arrives with a small army and steals the key and the aliens. Though devastated, Jenny learns that there is still a chance to save the aliens with the key she found. She teams up with Jack—who is angry that Victus tricked him—and two of the other recruits. Together, they head to outer space to unlock the gateway. They succeed in getting to the gateway first, but Victus arrives before Jenny can unlock it. Jenny and Victus face-off over the final lock while ally and enemy fleets do battle. Using her newly realized powers, Jenny overpowers Victus and throws him into the gateway just as it activates. Having unlocked and activated the gateway, Jenny agrees to become the galactic representative for the Sol system, and she returns home with the cure to her family’s curse. Though Jenny is still sad over the loss of her mother, she has found a new purpose in life and has embraced who she is.